balloon fightin’ kid to the rescue!

i’d played and quite enjoyed the classic balloon fight a while back, and at that time i’d already set my sights on playing through the only sequel the game ever got, which was balloon kid for the original game boy.

i have a big soft spot for early game boy games, which, being black and white and on a tiny screen, feel even more primitive than the original NES games. although not a classic for the ages, balloon kid is a nice alternative to the usual generic platformer. it doesn’t deviate much from the ballon trip mode of the original and your main goal is still to avoid hazards by using the game’s unique flying mechanics, although occasionally as the protagonist, alice, you’ll have to drop your balloons in order to do a bit of basic platforming or simplistic boss fighting.

i agree with this review at nintendojo that it’ll probably take you at least a few playthroughs before you get to the end of the game (which features a somewhat twisted epilogue), perhaps a bit more if you never played balloon fight. but finishing each stage perfectly by nabbing every single balloon would be much, much trickier. the last stage was a lot of fun due to the increased difficulty, and it made me think that a follow-up game, while not likely, would be more than welcome. the graphics are basic but have character, although the control felt fractionally looser to me than the original, especially when comparing the balloon trip mode that was included to complement the main modes of both games, but not enough to detract at all. all in all this is a thoroughly amiable game and due to its mechanics is more unique than the average generic platformer, and an enjoyable way to while away a few hours, especially for fans of the original balloon fight.

balloonin’ links:
- balloon kid didn’t get a lot of attention when it came out, but it was mentioned in nintendo power v. 16 (i’ve archived a scan here). it also received a blurb in the game boy nintendo player’s guide (scan archived here).
- official japanese site of the GBC remake including screenshots and unique official artwork. apparently along with color the game included a save function, map screen, and stage select screen.
- comparison of balloon kid and its reskin hello kitty world at youtube
- entry at wikipedia
- in IGN’s “smash it up!” character-prediction feature that lucas m. thompson wrote for IGN in the weeks leading up to the release of brawl, he claimed that balloon fighter was included in beta versions of smash bros. melee, but i find it hard to believe such information would have been leaked and he doesn’t cite a source. he mentioned both balloon fighter and alice as suggestions for the series. it would be pretty friggin’ awesome if either of them actually made it into future installments of the series, although coming up with a moveset that worked would be quite a challenge.

mario galactic

even though i’d finished new super mario bros. earlier this year, i decided to go ahead and finish playing through the only mario game in the main series i hadn’t yet finished (not counting remakes), super mario galaxy.

like my experience with mario 64 it took me a really long time to get into galaxy. i definitely enjoyed the gravity mechanics in the game, but the gameplay quickly started feeling repetitive as many of the levels just involved jumping from planetoid to planetoid with very little skill involved. somehow it just didn’t seem like enough was different compared to mario 64 or mario sunshine, although this is probably more due to me being a complete mario veteran than any huge lack of originality. but eventually i was won over, helped out in no small part by the increased difficulty of the later stages and the new suits. the bee and boo suits were cute but not so interesting gameplay-wise, but the ice flower and the spring suit were quite fun to play around with, and it was fun to see the first appearance of the fire flower in a 3D mario game. the powerups in general were a bit underutilized, but i did like the way the game is set up so that you can beat the game with 60 of the 120 stars. i also appreciated that the number of “collect 100 coins” tasks was minimized. i ended up finishing all the main levels including the trial galaxies (which i didn’t find all that difficult), but after my 102nd star i just couldn’t be bothered finishing the remainder of the “comet” stars (of which there are 30 total).

in terms of making a 3D platformer accessible to the masses, i do feel like nintendo (and miyamoto) completely succeeded. the controls feel great, and the fact that in most cases you can’t fall off an edge does indeed make the game feel like a revolution. this, coupled with the ability to save yourself from minor miscalculations via spin jumping back onto a platform (similar to sunshine’s ability to recover by using the F.L.U.D.D. water pack), makes this one of the least frustrating 3D platformers ever and sets a new standard; it’ll be interesting to see how nintendo (and other companies) react to and possibly improve upon these new mechanics. there are also some minor and very welcome tweaks to make the 3D gameplay less frustrating, such as having headlights (i.e. laser sights) when throwing a shell underwater. in general the wii-specific controls seem more gimmicky and mini-game-like than not to me, but that’s probably a matter of taste and they didn’t detract from the overall experience. one thing that some reviews criticized was the inclusion of rosalina’s storybook, but i really enjoyed the change of pace and tone that the storybook (which is entirely optional) provided, and it certainly added a bit of depth to the otherwise bright and bubbly mario fare.

in the end the game did feel more original than new super mario bros., and in a lot of ways i agree with the people who have made the comparison that it is to mario 64 what mario 3 was to the original super mario bros.. the comparison isn’t completely valid as mario 3 was such a huge leap in terms of innovation for the series, but although it took a while galaxy has certainly won a place in my affections. being the last main mario game i had left to play i feel like i should post my ranking of all the games in the series, but i think i’m going to hold off until i completely replay the original NES mario trilogy just to see if that changes my mind since i haven’t played them in so long. i don’t think it will, though, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

a galaxy of galactic links!
- iwata asks: huge interview series on galaxy with the creators, including miyamoto.
- guide at IGN
- review at IGN
- good FAQ including difficulty ratings and the # of stars required to unlock each galaxy
- ending with 120 stars at youtube
- IGN’s history of super mario bros.

shadow of a fire emblem

anyone who’s taken even a cursory look through this blog has probably picked up on the fact that fire emblem is one of my favorite video game series, as evidenced by, among other things, the fact that i played through the heretofore latest installment in the series, the epically long fire emblem: radiant dawn, twice in a row. i’ve been totally psyched to play the newest entry in the series fire emblem: shadow dragon ever since it was announced: at long last fire emblem fans the world over can rejoice that the original fire emblem has finally been released outside of japan. well, not the original since shadow dragon is actually a remake, but in many ways we’re better off with a remake than the original, even aside from the fact it’s been translated.

first off, yes, this game features the same marth made famous to western audiences through his appearance in super smash bros. melee and who also made a second appearance in the more recent super smash bros. brawl. my initial reaction, like many other hardcore FE fans, was disappointment that so many of the features, even relatively basic ones, that were present in the recent games weren’t carried over to this iteration. in particular i was really disappointed that support conversations hadn’t been included, which are easily one of my favorite things about the games. support convos are sections of dialogue between pairs of characters that occur when they fight close to each other in battle, and they really give the game’s storyline much more depth and also give the game more replayability.

it’s no secret that nintendo was looking to make a more accessible version of what is a hardcore series in order to attract newcomers, and in fact in an interview the creators said that they were afraid the support conversations would make the storyline more confusing (which i completely disagree with, a classic case of a developer and a fan not seeing eye to eye). in terms of making the game friendly to newcomers there’s no doubt that intelligent systems succeeded in their goal, though (helped in no small part by the fact that marth is such a popular character in the smash bros. series), and some of the changes they’ve made are: the number of actions and stats each unit has are much more limited than in the other recent games; there’s a slew of powerful characters to use and replacement characters available if you happen to lose too many of the story characters; there’s a method of borrowing more powerful characters from a friend to get through a tough spot; there’s an online shop you can connect to in order to buy powerful weapons; and for the first time save points are included on the maps. the additions to make the game easier can mostly be ignored if you choose, but the save points are a welcome change, even to me, a long-time vet, and a nice compromise between radiant dawn’s ability to save anywhere at any time.

i don’t have a problem with nintendo making their games accessible so long as they satisfy the hardcore audience as well. so how does shadow dragon shape up? well, at first i was looking at the game from the point of view of the recent games, and in that respect there’s so much that wasn’t included that it’s impossible not to be disappointed. but when you look at the game from the point of view of the original famicom game and see what was added, it makes you feel like you’re getting a taste of what the original was like and makes you really appreciate for the first time the innovations that came later as the series progressed, particularly since entries #1-6 weren’t released outside of japan.

but aside from the historical context of the original game, the standard addictive FE core mechanics, and the chance to finally see marth in a starring role, there still were just enough new features that i was kept entertained. there were the DS-specific interface features which were great, wifi multiplayer for the first time (although not particularly well designed at all in terms of matching you with a player at a similar level), and two new classes that non-japanese audiences had never seen before that were fun to use (chameleon a.k.a. freelancer and the incredibly useful ballistician). but the main new feature is the brand new reclassing system. each unit has base stats and growths and class-specific stats and growths, and it’s quite a lot of geeky fun to study the stats and work out which units would benefit the most from being changed to a different class (e.g. changing an archer to a dark mage) in order to make up for their shortcomings or emphasize their strengths even more. the FE series has always had a strong component of nerdiness in determining which units are the best and the best way to maximize each character’s stats as efficiently as possible, and the reclassing feature definitely helps make up for some of the features that weren’t included. the reclassing system isn’t intended to be anything like the complex, central system of the final fantasy tactics games, though, and it fits into the aesthetic of the game in the sense that it doesn’t change the core gameplay at all and it can help make the game easier for a novice. the addition of six levels of difficulty isn’t much of a saving grace, although there’s no doubt that i’ll be playing through at least some of them in the future.

so all in all although i was a bit disappointed with the shallowness of the story and the simpler gameplay, it’s still a fire emblem game and i definitely enjoyed it. in this great interview for nintendo between sakurai of brawl fame and FE series producer narihiro, the latter mentions that the game was created to acknowledge the 25th year of fire emblem and the creation of the 10th game in the series (although shadow dragon is actually the 11th game). he also says the game was intended to be “an opportunity to once again introduce everyone to the fun and attractions that this series has to offer.” in that sense it’s much easier to forgive the game’s lack of more hardcore offerings. the handheld games have historically had less features than the console ones anyway, so as long as this is just a dip and the next game will be as jam-packed with content as before i won’t be complaining too much. in any case, i’m hoping the game sells well enough that the SNES sequel to the game (the original FE3) comes out before too long. like shadow dragon, it would be the next best thing to playing the original games in japanese.

oh, and if anyone’s wondering, my main team consisted of frey, abel, ogma, cord (dark mage), bord, beck, shiida (a.k.a. caeda), wrys, marth, darros, lena, merric, and gordin. the game has less balanced characters than other games, in that some characters are clearly superior to others. i happened to pick a lot of the uber units this time around, but in other playthroughs i’ll focus more on the less godly ones. and if anyone is wondering and doesn’t already know, cord makes a great dark mage: he’s one of the few non-magic units who has a relatively high base magic growth, so he’s clearly an ideal choice. yes, i know, i’m an FE geek. i gotta get a FE t-shirt or some figurines or something hahaha.

some fiery links!
- yet again serenesforest.net has the most awe-inspiringly complete shadow dragon site around, with all the essential info including characters’ base stats and growths, info on reclassing and the online shop, as well as the soundtrack and wallpapers.
- also worth mentioning is that serenesforest.net has loads of information on the original version of the game, including some entertaining in-game character artwork, official character artwork from the japanese-only trading card game, and scanlations (some in english) of the official manga of the original game.
- the reviews all seem to be basically in agreement. here are the reviews at 1up, IGN, and IGN UK.
- nice interview with the director of intelligent systems with the tantalizing comment, “As the basis of the series is supported by features of ‘Strategy RPGs’, we will continue to make new titles based upon them even in the future. But I think all of the Fire Emblem games do not have to be so…” yowza! i think i just wet my pants.
- the official site doesn’t have that much information, but it may be interesting to newbies and it has a nice section on the various character classes.
- hardcore gaming 101 has a nice run-down of the entire 11-game series, including shadow dragon
- for the european release nintendo UK put out a video on the history of the series (youtube version here).
- presumably in order to make the game even more accessible to newbies nintendo sent out an official release offering up hints and tips for the game, hahaha.

zeroing in on metroid: zero mission

it’s actually been a bit longer than i thought since i’d finished a metroid game, although i’ve been playing bits of some games off and on for a while. i sat down and finished metroid: zero mission a couple of weeks ago, which as you probably already know is the remake of the original NES metroid for the GBA.

the general response to the game was overwhelmingly positive when it came out, with critics praising the rehauled parts of the game as well as the new content, which introduced us to our heroine samus’s now-famous zero suit form. overall zero got slightly lower scores than the previous GBA metroid game, metroid fusion, although personally i preferred zero mission. i know i’m not alone in that, although it’s not immediately obvious why i would prefer it since zero mission is definitely the easier game. but i think i felt the same way as i felt when i played super metroid a while back: what it boils down to is noticeably superior map and room design. the elements of all three games are incredibly similar in terms of gameplay, but zero mission is definitely a case where the cumulative attention to detail makes the experience as a whole more compelling.

one of the things that struck me when i played super metroid was how much slower the pace was than fusion, which led to a more atmospheric and memorable game overall. zero is in many ways an even faster game than fusion: samus is more sprightly and easier to control than ever. although oftentimes you can zip through room after room in zero, the pacing is better than fusion overall in that there are plenty of places where you have to stop and get your bearings, plan your route, or puzzle your way through what seems to be a dead end. the new zero suit samus content has a different feel than the rest of the metroid series, but for the most part that section meshes fairly well with the game and points to some possible new directions for the 2D metroid games to go in (although it’s been more than 5 years now since zero was released with no new 2D metroid game in sight, alas). with zero i was amazed yet again at how in spite of so much similarity each individual game in the series is a lot of fun. i’m almost surprised at how much i enjoyed this game, although i think the next iteration will have to include even more novelty to keep the series from feeling stale.

the original NES version of the game (included in zero mission as an unlockable after you beat the game) forms a stark contrast to all the other games, as samus moves much more slowly and routes take much longer to uncover. i played through it when i was a kid and again years ago, but it’ll be interesting to play through it again at some point to compare it to zero. and i’m definiitely psyched to see how the original NES’s sequel, metroid 2 for the game boy, compares to the other games both in terms of gameplay and pacing. since it’s the only 2D metroid game i haven’t played at all, i’m probably going to tackle it sooner than later. definitely looking forward to it.

zeroing in on samus’s zero mission links:
- guide from IGN, including info on 15% completion, a mode that i’m not particularly interested in but which gives different endings.
- screenshots of all the game’s endings at vgmuseum.com
- game page at classicgaming.gamespy.com, including maps
- entry at wikipedia
- 1up posted a history of the metroid series a few years ago that also looked at the backstories presented in official sources. IGN also posted a history of the series last year.

adventures of kirby

kirby games aren’t my favorite, mostly b/c they’re so easy, but since playing brawl i’ve wanted to see meta knight’s first appearance, which was in kirby’s adventure for the NES. kirby’s adventure is the second game in the series and the first to feature kirby’s now character-defining ability to copy enemies’ abilities by swallowing them (who knew that such ruthlessly carnivorous behavior could be so darn cute?).

although the second in the series, this was my third kirby game, and the game held very few surprises, particularly since i’d already played the game immediately following, kirby’s dream land 2. kirby’s adventure often gets good reviews, even today (e.g. lucas m. thompson’s review of the VC release on IGN), and a lot of people seem to count it among their favorite games ever. but my reaction to it and dream land 2 were similar: in my mind both suffer from painfully easy levels without enough variety in enemies or geography to keep the scenery somewhat interesting to compensate at least partially for the complete lack of interesting gameplay.

i actually don’t have much more to say about this game, other than that i enjoyed kirby’s adventure more than dream land 2. the game as a whole feels bigger, and it includes additional powerups, more sub-boss and boss battles, and a colorful ambience provided by the NES that the gray-scale game boy lacked. it was also nice to see the original appearance of characters i was introduced to when i played the puyo puyo spin-off kirby’s avalanche. but it seems supremely pointless to me that the game’s “extra” mode is just beating the whole game at 100% with no saves.

nintendo fanboy i may be, but the kirby series is still ranking pretty low on my list of favorite nintendo series. but i played through the first part of the next game in the series kirby super star, which appears on the SNES and was recently remade for the DS. and even though super star is still as easy as ever, it looks like kirby has a lot of new moves and that it’ll be more interesting overall.

it was recently announced that the starfy series would finally be coming to the US, and although i’m definitely excited to have more games that were previously exclusive to japan, i’m leery of the starfy series being even more mindless than the kirby series. but of course i’ll be keeping my eye on it anyway, and i haven’t completely given up on kirby. i’ll try to keep an open mind as i find out how the rest of the series pans out.

kirby’s adventurin’ links:
- as usual kirby’s rainbow resort has tons of great info on their kirby’s adventure sub-site, including official artwork and loads of screenshots, most of the instruction manual, and the soundtrack.
- youtube video of (almost) every ability
- here’s a FAQ (or two) if you’re missing the last few secrets to get 100%.
- 1up has a nice history of kirby, recapping all the main games as well as all the spin-offs
- screenshots of the ending at vgmuseum.com
- entry at wikipedia

geometry revised

i meant to post this two page preview (1|2) of geometry wars: galaxies from nintendo power (aug 2007/V218) in my last post reviewing the wii version of the game. but i couldn’t find my scanner (long story), so i only just got around to scanning them today. i always find it interesting to compare beta and final versions of games, and although the article doesn’t include a whole lot of detail, it’s interesting to compare the differences, including the changes in the enemies. the image at the top of this post is from NP, and the second image is from IGN and appears in B&W in the game’s manual (click on either for a larger image). the preview mentions “parasites” which thankfully weren’t in the final release, because they “latch onto ships then hinder their abilities. you’ll need to shake the remote to lose them.” (ech!) the preview also says you’ll be able to “swap save data between the two systems” (i.e. the DS and wii versions), another feature that didn’t make the cut (and wasn’t missed at all). ah, where would we be without those old issues of NP to provide us with all of this cocktail trivia?